At University he also forged a lifelong friendship with fellow student and future Hollywood superstar Richard Burton.

He joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1948 at the age of 23.

One of his earliest TV jobs, in 1955, saw him take on Shakespeare in Othello.

He moved into cinema in 1958 as a naval officer in Torpedo Run and seven years later was reunited with Burton for his first big screen role in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

He died in Denville Hall, a North West London retirement home for actors.

His children Emma, Justine and Paul said they would remember him “as a meticulous linguist, a fine artist, a lover of music and a champion of literature, as well a highly respected historian, and a leading specialist on the longbow”.